


forever with you isn't long enough

by Anonymous



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Banter, Emotions, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Exchange, Grumpmas 2019, Holidays, Introspection, M/M, Mild Smut, POV Dan Avidan, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:05:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21627904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Meeting Arin Hanson was like meeting a soulmate for the very first time.-A typical goofy recording night, a sentimental gift exchange, and a special night between Arin and Dan that neither of them will be able to forget, especially when the end of the night calls for a special surprise.
Relationships: Dan Avidan/Arin Hanson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42
Collections: Anonymous, Game Grumps Holiday Exchange 2019





	forever with you isn't long enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [locusrose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/locusrose/gifts).

> rated mature for mild, not-super-graphic smut. 
> 
> hope this was okay - it's not super long, but i hope it's good<3 i did my best with your prompt, so i hope you like it!

"Uhhhh... Grumps Game... to back... welcome! Everyone ... hello!"

"Arin, what the fuck. What are you even doing?" Dan giggles.

"Duh," Arin says, dragging out the word. "Backwards speaking."

"Arin..." Dan says like a disappointed parental figure.

"Here listen, oh-"

Mario jumps into the lava.

"FUCK YOU! ... ahem. Uh. You fuck."

A snicker.

"I do indeed fuck."

"Up fuck the shut!"

"Upfuck? What if instead of updog, it was upfuck?"

Arin breaks character. "Oh my god!! Could you imagine?"

Dan laughs.

"What's upfuck? ... Did you just call me a fuck?"

"Arin - _please_ \- I'm fucking losing my mind."

-

"Next time on Game Grumps!" Arin shrieks, Dan giggling in the background per usual. "Fuck this!"

When Arin's finished writing down the episode end-time, they both start to laugh. Already, Dan can see Arin Hanson coming back as the "Grump" persona starts to fade away. 

This is the Arin he fell in love with.

-

If you had told Dan that he would meet a guy that would change his life forever and that he would eventually fall in love with him, he probably wouldn't call you crazy. Not to your face, at least.

Still, he's baffled. Never would he had thought, in those late nights a young Danny would stare at the ceiling and dream about possible futures, that his life would end up like this. He had thoughts about relationships and marriage, but never really put too much thought into it. It was more of a fleeting idea, the shadowy figure of a supposed soulmate. It was just expected - settling down with the love of your life as if it's the last objective of the adulthood checklist.

Arin Hanson wasn't the kind of person Dan thought he'd love past platonic affection.

In truth, it seems improbable. Dan never really thought about guys. He was more into cute, soft-spoken women, someone that he would instinctively feel like protecting and caring for. 

Arin is certainly soft, but not soft-spoken. He was more of a loud-spoken man who spoke his mind whenever he got a chance. Arin didn't need protecting, far from it. Dan knows he can manage himself. 

Dan doesn't know what exactly happened. Arin's not his type - he's typically only interested in women.

Then again, when has Arin ever been anything like typical?

-

"Hey, do you ever think about the fact that people write fanfiction about us?"

Dan squints. "I mean, I guess...?"

The truth is, he doesn't think about it much. But it's always been in the back of his mind - before and _especially_ after they started dating.

Of course, it's weird to bring it up while they're recording, but he decides to play it cool.

"Egobang - it's a real thing. People _ship_ us together."

Dan doesn't know where they're going with this.

"I mean, yeah, sure, but I'm totally fine with it like I said before. What's the big deal, bringing this up out of nowhere?"

Dan pauses, smirking. "You accidentally read some fanfiction?"

"Uh..." Arin says loudly and purposefully, causing the other to roll his eyes.

"There's no shame in that, you know-"

"Well, yeah-"

"It's okay, everyone has different tastes-"

"I don't read it on the _regular_-"

"I never implied that-"

"Okay-"

"Now you're just _further_ implicating yourself with your defense."

Arin huffs. "Shut up," he says, clearly not meaning it.

Dan simply laughs. "Really, though, what a strange topic. Weren't we talking about something else at the beginning of this episode?"

"Yeah, we were talking about how Ross was teasing us when we took a break from recording because his levels suck ass!"

"And we're talking about fanfiction."

"To be fair, fanfiction is _really_ cool."

"Well, you're the one reading fanfiction of yourself-"

"Dan, could you _shut_ up?"

"Yeah, sure, maybe we should be talking about the fact that you keep dying at this Baby Bowser section-"

"Well, maybe Baby Bowser is a piece of _shit_, how about that, did you consider that?"

And the conversation moves on from there.

-

Dan finds that, even though their show is all about nonsensical rambling, he drifts off and starts to feel like he's in a whole other universe. Recording, to him, is like a whole magical experience that he gets to spend with his best friend, playing video games and having a good time. Only in the past few years has this _best friend_ become the _best friend that he likes to kiss_. 

Although this is such a short part of Dan's life, it seems like this part of his life is the most eventful. It feels like he's been recording these videos for as long as he can remember.

He loves to sit next to this man he loves, both platonically and romantically, making new memories and learning more and more, no matter what it is about.

To tell the truth, Dan has rarely been gladder to be alive than in these moments, here and now, with everyone he could ever love and care about.

-

"Next time on Game Grumps! We, fucking, uh-"

"We stop talking about _fucking_ fanfiction, for god's sake!" Dan laughs.

"Well, on the flip side, how about we talk _exclusively_ about fanfiction-"

"Arin, please, I'm begging of you, do _not_ do that."

They dissolve into laughter, as is their want. 

-

"And... I think that wraps it up!"

"That was our last episode?"

"_Hell_ yeah, last episode!"

"Whew!" Dan stands up to stretch, eyes darting over to the clock. "We still have like five hours before I have to head to the airport, though."

"Five more hours with the love of your life, how will you _ever_ survive?"

"I didn't mean to sound like I was disappointed." Dan snorts. "Besides, I have a thing for you."

"A _thing_ for me?" Arin waggles his eyebrows, causing Dan to push Arin away from him.

"No, I mean, a _holiday_ present, idiot."

"Oh! I thought we were going to do that when we got back."

"Well, yeah, but I figured we could do a gift exchange now."

Arin lets out a breath, playing up the role of being annoyed. "You're lucky I happen to have a gift for you here in the office, or I would have been _so_ fucking mad at you, dude."

"You can never stay mad at me."

"Point taken."

The conversation comes to a standstill, with both of them not quite sure what to say. They look at each other, struggling but trying to maintain eye contact. 

Arin starts grinning widely, and Dan almost feels worried about what might come from the evil mastermind of Arin's brain.

All Arin does is lean over to kiss Dan's nose and get up.

"I'm going to get your present, don't move!" Arin walks briskly out of the room, almost skipping.

In jest, Dan cries out with intended sarcasm, "Oh, no, Arin! An interdimensional portal opened up in front of the couch! Oh no! I'm being sucked in, oh noooo! I'm being taken to an alternate universe...!"

Arin's laughter echoes through the office, and Dan can't help leaning back into the couch and smiling.

-

Meeting Arin Hanson was like meeting a soulmate for the very first time.

From the moment they locked eyes, Dan could tell that this was going to change his life forever. He doesn't want to get romantic and mushy, and he won't, because it wasn't love at first sight.

No, Dan doesn't really think it was ever love at first.

But the way Arin grinned at him and the way that he laughed at his jokes made him feel some sort of affection in his heart that he didn't know how to explain.

It wasn't love, Dan thinks, but maybe he just doesn't know or doesn't want to admit it.

He's not so sure himself.

A soulmate is a serious label. Dan has never mentioned it to Arin, in fear of being shot down. After all, the dude does have a wife, Dan reasons, and he is the one that came in later. Polyamory is complicated and Dan knows that they may not see it that way, but he sure does.

Still, the fact that Arin is his partner is a little shocking to him. A partner in life, a partner in crime, and... well, just a partner.

Dan doesn't think he can ask for more.

But seeing Arin smile at him every day makes him feel like wanting more.

-

"I'm back, and I see you are back from your _interdimensional_ adventure."

"Yeah, and I almost died because I almost didn't survive changing dimensions."

"Anyway," Arin says, ignoring his comment, leaving Dan glaring playfully at him. "Here's your present, loser."

"Loser?" Dan grabs the gift.

"I'm just kidding-"

"I thought you would say something like fucker, to be honest. That's very tame of you to say _loser_ instead." 

Dan starts to tear at the wrapping.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to remain PG-13."

"This isn't some movie." Dan pauses. "Or fanfiction."

"Thankfully."

"Well, we are dating, so that's something."

"Arin, are you insinuating we're in fanfiction because we're in a relationship?"

"Come on, it'd be funny. Like, haha, breaking the fourth wall and shit."

Dan doesn't say anything, simply stares at him with a look of disbelief.

"This is by far the weirdest conspiracy theory I've heard."

"Just open your present."

"I'm trying!"

After a bit of fumbling, Dan finally gets the last piece of wrapping paper off. He opens the box and looks down to see...

A shirt?

"Wait..."

Dan pulls it out.

"This is..."

It's a Rush shirt, that looks to be in pretty good condition, if not new. Dan bites his lips. Judging by the year on the shirt, it seems to be from a concert that looks place a long time ago.

"Arin... you..."

"Dan..."

"I mentioned this... maybe once, offhandedly in a conversation..."

Dan thinks back. He had mentioned wanting to collect Rush shirts, mostly as a joke, but he did enjoy getting shirts from all the different tours and such. And now...

"Yes?"

"And you tracked it down for me?"

"If it's important to you, then it's important to me."

"What the fuck..." Dan whispers.

"What the fuck, indeed."

"Fuck you, I'm in love with you."

"What a nice sentiment," Arin says, laughing, but bringing Dan into a tight hug.

"Guess you're winning the Best Present award."

"Don't be like that. I haven't even seen yours yet, so you never know."

"I don't know. Yours was pretty impressive. I don't know how I'm going to follow that up."

"You just will, probably." Arin snorts. "Now let me see it and stop delaying the inevitable."

"You saw right through me, asshole." Dan rolls his eyes, holding out the gift. "What'd you expect from me anyway?"

"Point taken."

-

It feels like an eternity that Arin takes to open the present. Dan doesn't know if his gift will meet expectations, but there's no turning back now.

His nerves are running high.

To him, it almost feels as if how much Arin loves his gift is going to be representative of how much Arin loves _him._

-

Arin finally opens the box.

Dan, this year, decided to go for a craft, without resorting to purchasing expensive gifts. He had went that route last year and purchased Arin an expensive pen, which he did appreciate and love to this day. Still, Dan doesn't like to remain predictable.

This year, Arin's present is a huge plush cat doll, made with his own two hands, online tutorials, and math skills to scale up the instructions. It's not particularly impressive, but the cat looks like a cat, and it's certainly soft and huggable. In his opinion at least.

After all, it's a big ragdoll cat for his Big Cat.

Arin pulls it out of the box, examining it closely.

"This is homemade?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I just... I, wow..." Arin hugs the doll.

"It's not very impressive, but-"

"It's _very_ impressive. I love it."

"You..."

"You _made_ this for me. You... this is amazing. I'm going to keep this in my room forever."

"Fuck, I mean, it's not that good-"

"_Fuck_ you, it is that good, and I love it, and _you_ made it for me, and that's it."

"But-"

"Fuck you, Dan, _shut_ up."

"Make me."

Silence.

"Dan."

"Yes, Arin?"

"Fuck you."

"I mean if you want to."

And Arin immediately puts down the ragdoll and lunges over.

-

Despite how rough this started, they've ended up on the couch lying on top of each other, laughing into their kisses.

It's always been soft and wonderful between them, Dan thinks to himself, looking at his boyfriend's face hovering above his. Arin starts to cover his face with kisses and Dan can't help laughing and trying to connect their lips once more.

He's so lucky to love Arin Hanson. Arin thinks the world of Dan, but Dan thinks the universe of him. 

Clothes start to slip off, and although it should be feeling cold, Dan doesn't think about that. He can only think about the body heat coming from Arin, think about how their skin is touching, thinking about how intimate and wonderful this is. He's had sex before, so many times, but he can only really describe this as making love. His heart feels like it's soaring, with every way that Arin touches his body.

Eventually, Arin lowers himself down past the belt and closes his mouth around Dan, to which Dan struggles to not thrust up. With the way that Arin seems so familiar with his body by now, Dan feels like he's about to get to release with the stamina of a teenager.

When the warmth disappears, Dan _almost_ cries out, but then he _does_, when he feels fingers prodding at his hole.

Arin is glorious at lovemaking. He's wonderful and makes everything feel like fireworks and a rollercoaster of bliss. The pleasure within Dan is building up and when Dan finally cries out to _just do it already, fucker_, Arin snorts, and Dan can just hear the fucking smirk without having to look at Arin's face.

And when Arin finally _does_ it, Dan can't even see the world around him anymore. It all phases out. He can't tell where his body ends and begins, can only register how mindblowing this feels to be connected so deeply to the man he loves.

Dan doesn't feel anything in reality anymore, is lulled into bliss with Arin's constant murmur of _I love you, I love you, I love you_.

And eventually, as Dan's vision turns white when he reaches the moment of climax with his lover, he thinks to himself that this is the best universe.

-

After they get cleaned up and everything is back to normal, Dan closes his eyes and leans back on the couch, head resting on Arin's shoulder.

They've been spending the night together until they have to separate, Dan going to the airport and Arin going back to his home. To be honest, these are always the hardest parts. Dan didn't do many long-distance relationships, but his experience with them has always been hard. He's always been a fan of physical affection, so he's certainly not a fan of spending time away from lovers.

But it's what he has to do - he wants to go back to his family for the holiday break. Arin and Suzy were talking about Florida perhaps, but Dan and Arin always had separate paths to take during the holiday season.

"It's a huge commitment, but I could spend the rest of my life with you, you know?" Dan whispers.

"I would, too, you corny bastard." Arin smiles. "I would love that."

Dan shifts to get closer to Arin, who wraps his arm around Dan.

"God, I wish I could marry you," Dan whispers.

Arin stills.

Dan tenses up.

_Fuck_.

He shifts up awkwardly, looking at Arin. They're sitting on the couch, looking at each other, and everything that just happened in the past few hours feels like years ago.

Arin doesn't say anything, just stares at Dan with that blank look that can't be read. His eyes glazed over, mouth hanging open slightly, Arin looks like he's not even in this dimension anymore.

-

"God, I wish I could marry you," the words echo through his mind.

Why did he say that? What made him think that that was a good idea?

They had never talked much about marriage or whatever - they were in a relationship and that was all that was established. Dan didn't really think about what he was saying, and never had; marriage had never crossed his mind and how could it with Suzy in the picture?

Dan stares back in shock.

-

"Dan, I..." Arin finally speaks after a bit of silence.

"Arin, can we just... pretend that didn't happen?"

Arin furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't need... pity, or... anything. We can just be... okay."

"What if..."

Dan blinks.

"What if I wanted us to be... _more_ than okay?"

Dan doesn't know what that means, but he stares in shock as Arin moves off the couch and gets down on one knee right in front of him.

Dan's mind explodes.

"I know I can't marry you, but... Suzy gave me permission to ... do this."

"... A-Arin?" Dan breathes out.

"Dan, you're... you're my best friend, but so much more. You've managed to crawl your way into my heart and my life, in ways that feel like if I lost you, I wouldn't be able to recover."

"I've been in love with you for what seems like forever. It feels like it's been destined from when I first saw you laugh in that sushi restaurant all those years ago - I can't imagine these past couple of years, or the rest of my life, without you."

Dan's lips wobble, clearly on the verge of tears.

"And I know we can't technically marry because polygamy is illegal, which sucks, but... I can do this instead, to circumvent our government's laws."

Arin gulps, opening the black box that appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

"So, what I'm trying to ask is, _can I spend the rest of my life with you?"_

Dan freezes up.

-

Dan didn't expect this. Not at all. There were a hundred scenarios that were running through his mind and none of them were even close to what's happening right now.

Dan closes his eyes.

He doesn't know how it came to this. He doesn't know if this is a joke or a prank, and if it is, it's a silly prank. He would smite Arin Hanson for playing with his feelings like that; it feels like he can't _even breathe_, like the shock is paralyzing him, making him a statue sitting on this couch forever. 

Arin Hanson is something like a soulmate to Dan Avidan, like a person who's the personification of his _destiny,_ his _future_. And there are doubts - there are squabbles and petty fights, but that comes with the territory of romantic relationships. There's the little voice in the back of Dan's mind (that's never left, that's always been there) that says one day he'll wake up and all of this was a dream. There's a part of him that feels like he doesn't deserve this kind of happiness.

But he has never stopped viewing Arin as one of his soulmates. 

And what does it matter, right? I mean, he was already planning on saying...

Dan finally opens his eyes.

"Yes."

-

Arin makes a strangled noise in response.

(He supposes, later, that neither of them had planned it, that they didn't know what the other expected or even thought remotely that something _like this_ would happen tonight, but it did, and, well, _whatever happens, happens_, right?)

-

Dan's hands shake as Arin slowly slides the ring on his finger.

"This is really happening."

"Yeah... it is."

"I'd crack a joke right now, but I literally don't know what I would _say_."

"Me neither." Arin laughs softly. "This... is so crazy."

Dan shifts closer to Arin on the couch, but logically, he knows that he literally can't get any closer. Still, that doesn't stop him from trying anyway.

"I would spend forever with you," Arin whispers softly.

_"Forever?"_

"Yeah."

Dan snorts. "Forever would never be long enough, not for me, not for you."

"... Not for us." Arin snorts.

And although Dan has a flight to catch in about three hours, neither of them wants to move from that spot.

**Author's Note:**

> alt ending: 
> 
> Dan sits up suddenly.
> 
> "Dan?"
> 
> "Fuck, I can't believe we're leaving for the holidays and I'm going to have to explain this new ring by saying we're _psuedo-married_ to my family."
> 
> Arin started laughing at Dan during his mini-rant and has, at this point, descended into a fit of laughter.
> 
> "You're an evil mastermind, Arin Hanson, and I hate you." 
> 
> "Sure, Dan, sure, I love you, too."
> 
> -
> 
> thank u for reading<3 happy holidays! xoxo


End file.
